Gods and Protests: Religious Belief and Social Action

Aim/scope: Where do belief and faith intersect with social action? Is protest compatible with religious thought? This issue will address different ways that religions, in thought and action, have either encouraged social changes or discouraged them. Its focus is not on detached ideals imposed upon social groups by a dominant authority; rather, it challenges the assumption that liberation necessitates conformity by analyzing human struggle and triumph, and the role that religious belief, faith, and ideals play in the social experience.

Dear Colleagues,

Polarization, oppressions, cultural fragmentations, and even international conflicts have been given religious justifications. While this tendency has been seen throughout history, it has become even more pressing in the modern age. Globalization, social media, and more have not only made human beings more aware of each other, it has facilitated agonistic dramas and ideological conflicts with the potential to influence individuals and groups around the world. What place does religious presence have in all of this? What outcomes are inevitable if religion remains a factor in what unites and divides people along ideological grounds?

This issue investigates the known and potential impacts of religious belief on social responsibility and action. It explores historical trends and modern consequences, including notions of body, the individual and collective, distributions of power, imposed colonial binaries, networks of affinity allied around religious and social beliefs, the correlation between interpretation of sacred texts and sociopolitical positionality, and the impact of religious belief on social and political action, belief, and acquiescence. Its authors represent a diverse set of perspectives exploring the complexity and diversity of human experiences, interpretation, and religious belief. It sets these issues against a larger concern: what role does religion hold in social action?

We invite proposals dealing with any aspect of how religious belief influences social action, and whether to encourage this action or to hinder it.

This Special Issue aims to explore the sociological impact of religious belief and faith on social action. Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Religion and conflict;
• Postcolonialism and social–religious thought;
• Religion and social protest;
• Minorities and religion;
• Social issues and the interpretation of sacred texts;
• Religious interpretation and social or political policies;
• Religion as community buildings.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jeremiah Cataldo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• belief
• social action
• protest
• human experience
• interpretation
• religion
• conflict
• human responsibility